Statement From The Alliance for Food and Farming

Prenatal Exposure Study Focuses On Decade-Old Sampling Data

April 21, 2011 12:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time

WATSONVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The study released today (Prenatal Exposure to Organophosphate
Pesticides and IQ in 7-year-old Children) represents a snapshot in time
from over a decade ago and concerns pregnant women who lived and/or
worked in the Salinas Valley of California. Things have changed in the
last 10 years. For example:

Indoor home use of the compounds referenced (organophosphate
pesticides) has been discontinued since the study commenced in
1999/2000. This is important to note since the Environmental
Protection Agency states that home use of pesticides accounts for
approximately 80% of a typical person’s exposure.

In California, which has the most comprehensive pesticide reporting
system in the nation, use of these older, more stringently regulated
pesticides has dropped almost 60% between 2000 and 2008 on a variety
of crops.

As an organization that represents farmers, it is our responsibility to
reach out to scientists to learn more about this study. Here is what
they told us:

Intake of metabolite (i.e., pesticide residue or breakdown products)
and use of urinary metabolite concentrations as an indication of
pesticide exposure results in misclassification of exposure (it is
exposure to metabolites rather than pesticides). This represents
serious complications for exposure reconstruction using urinary
metabolites. To the extent that misclassification occurred in this
study, it would invalidate the claim that responses are attributable
to organophosphorous pesticides. Dr. Robert Krieger, Personal
Chemical Exposure Program, University of California, Riverside.

The levels of metabolites are incompletely described in the
manuscript. If those levels are used to reconstruct a worst-case
pesticide exposure, the dosages are well below no effect levels
resulting from well designed, pre-market pesticide safety evaluation
studies. Those studies are the foundation of the advanced pesticide
regulatory program of the United States that assures the delivery of
safe fruits and vegetables to consumers of all ages. There is abundant
evidence of the safety of fruits and vegetables provided by the U. S.
Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program. Dr. Robert
Krieger, Personal Chemical Exposure Program, University of California,
Riverside.

Those findings support my recommendation as a toxicologist for parents
and pregnant women, which mirrors guidance of health professionals
everywhere – eat and give your children a diet rich in fruits and
vegetables. The benefits from a healthy consumption of fruits and
vegetables are indisputable. Dr. Robert Krieger, Personal Chemical
Exposure Program, University of California, Riverside.

There has been a substantial amount of animal toxicology work on
organophosphates and the data do not indicate effects at the very low
exposures observed in these studies. Dr. Richard Reiss, Principal
Scientist, Exponent, Inc.

One of the biggest problems with epidemiologic studies is confounding.
While the authors attempted to account for the large influence of
socioeconomic factors on IQ, the results across the three studies
(published today) shows potential for residual confounding. For
example, the Engel et. al. study showed prenatal OP metabolites
correlated with a lower IQ for black and Hispanic children and a
higher IQ for white children. Dr. Richard Reiss, Principal
Scientist, Exponent, Inc.

As the scientists noted there are currently many studies that show
similar associations between other factors and lower IQ or behavioral
disorders. Many of the studies seem to show the importance of proper
nutrition for children and pregnant women. Studies show cognitive and
behavioral disorder associations among children who do not consume
enough fruits and vegetables, children who consume too many processed
foods, consumption of food dyes, consumption of trans-fatty acids,
closely spaced pregnancies causing possible prenatal nutrient depletion
and formula fed babies. Other factors also studied include genetics,
alcohol consumption during pregnancy, smoking during pregnancy, birth
order, birth weight, maternal and paternal age and lead exposure.

American farmers operate under stringent standards imposed by the EPA,
Federal Food and Drug Administration, United States Department of
Agriculture as well as state and county agencies to ensure pest and
disease control tools are used safely and judiciously. This stringent
government regulation married with the farmers’ commitment to grow their
crops with care is protective of farm employees and our consumers. After
all, the farmers we represent, their families and employees live, work
and go to school in the same communities so farming safely is of the
utmost priority.

About the Alliance for Food and Farming

The Alliance for Food and Farming is a non-profit organization formed
in 1989.Its membership includes approximately 50 agriculture
associations, commodity groups and individual growers/shippers who
represent farms of all sizes and includes conventional as well as
organic production. The Alliance works to provide a voice for farmers to
communicate their commitment to food safety and care for the land.